Realtor.com COVID-19 Housing Market Update - 4/9/21

This week, Chief Economist Danielle Hale discusses job openings and jobless claims data. She also addresses this week’s drop in mortgage rates, covered by colleague George Ratiu, which is welcome news, but cautions that homebuyers should keep in mind that we expect the general trend this year to be up. In addition to lower rates, data show that lenders are increasing availability to mortgage credit, but the key challenge remains finding a home to buy. Housing demand and supply continue to be mismatched and that has implications for prices and how quickly homes are selling. Because the competitive housing market is uniquely challenging for first-time homebuyers, my colleague Sabrina Speianu looked nationwide for the best housing markets for first-time buyers. Tune in to see which markets topped the list. 0:07 - Employment data 0:29 - Mortgage rates 0:52 - Credit availability 1:07 - Real estate listings and market trends 1:31 - Best housing markets in spring 2021 For more real-time updates, follow the realtor.com economics team on Twitter: @rdc_economics. Have an economic question you want the team to answer? Leave a note in the comments below! ********* Find your home on https://www.realtor.com ********* Download our mobile app: https://www.realtor.com/mobile ********* Follow us on: Facebook:   / realtor.com   Twitter:   / realtordotcom   Instagram:   / realtordotcom   Pinterest:   / realtordotcom   ~-~~-~~~-~~-~ Learn More about the home buying process: "Home Buying 101: How Do I Get Started?"    • How to Buy a Home: How Do I Get Started bu...   ~-~~-~~~-~~-~ #realtor #realestate